


A minor class

by orphan_account



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Drawings, Gen, Gilbert is an alcoholic, Hilda is unholy, Minature Golden Deer Students, Not really crack but as close as I'll ever get, OC are minor, Occational drawings, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Petra loves fanfiction, Tags Are Hard, The Author Regrets Nothing, shippings are not the main focus, they don't even know
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-09-06 02:56:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 37
Words: 10,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20284243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: "Welcome to the officers' academy, home to three houses," Rhea stated. "Though I guess for most of you, it's only two houses."ORAll of the golden deer are tiny but hide as normal-sized people, Felix and Bernadetta are possibly getting drunk because of the fact that no one believes them, and Rhea is the biggest provider of crack for this fic.





	1. A rumour

"Welcome to the officer's academy, home to three houses," Rhea stated. "Though I guess for most of you, it's only two houses." 

That was the opening words to Rhea's presentation, students from the Black eagles and Blue lions filled the entrance hall, most in their uniforms. It was there, right at that moment, where the rumours started. The rumours of many things came into view, Rhea's madness, the rumoured teachers lounge, Seteth's wyvern, the cursed graveyard, and, mainly, the supposed third house. They were all mysteries, started on that day. 

"Late again!? Gah, pull yourself together Lyssi!" The girl shouting to herself, running through the halls with books to her chest. "At this point, I'm almost as bad as that Annette girl is being early." 

Lysithea cut a corner and ran into the Blue lions' classroom, throwing a 'hello' to Hanneman as she made her way through. When Lysithea reached the bookshelf, she shrunk to her original size. Exactly 7.4 centimetres. Naturally, her clothes and books shrunk with her to a twentieth of their previous size. It was just small enough to be able to step over the area between the rocks without effort. Before making her way through the little space between the bookshelf and wall, she waved at Hanneman who happily waved back. 

Lysithea made her way down the stairs, hopping from step to step. Fifty-or-so steps later, she was at the bottom, inside her classroom. Lorenz, the second tallest at a 9.4, was checking through a scripture. Hilda, at a meek 7.7, was making something for (probably) the teacher. Raphael and Ignatz, 9.5 and 8.2 respectively, were chatting about something. Leonie, one centimetre taller than Lysithea, was doing something with her bow. Marianne, 8.15, was praying. And Claude was- 

"Where's Claude?" 

All heads turned towards Lysithea. Then everyone looked around the room, eyes filled with confusion. Claude was usually the first one here. 

"Lords of Almyra 1:1, the gods failed to see him, for he had gone far beyond the point of salvation," Marianne quoted. 

Lorenz was the first one to respond. "I do not believe Claude would shrink himself beyond salvation, no one is foolish enough to do that." 

"Still, it is a possibility, no?" Ignatz chirped in. 

"We have to find him..." 

"Agreed, Mari." 


	2. A neat escape

Claude didn't understand how he managed to not be detected yet. When Dimitri's cup of pencils had been picked up by the prince, Claude almost got squashed by one. When Dimitri was about to pour some coffee in it, Claude was lucky enough to have the Prince look away right at the correct moment for him to leap and hide under the blue cape. Then, when Dimitri was walking again, he somehow managed to get stuck in one particular place that was far too hot. The only problem was that he was stuck. 

Dimitri was always around a lot of people, so it was hard to make an escape. His best escape time would be when... nope, nevermind. He was not escaping when Dimitri was doing anything in his private time, never, negative. He was not taking the risk of having _that _image imprinted in his mind. 

Hopefully, his class would cause a ruckus or something else in the other classroom to attract attention. 

"You've got this, miss Lionette," Leonie mumbled to herself. She was on ruckus duty this week, a duty where one would act mad if someone was missing. "Just jump onto Edelgard and things should be done." 

Giving herself a moment, Leonie took a breath. "One... two... THREE!" 

Leonie jumped and could not only hear voices but also footsteps. Many, many more than just the black eagles, all, unorganised. Shouting, more men than women, voices, loud, many. Bright light. 

"Thank you, Leonie!" It was faint, but it was Claude's voice. Her work was done. 


	3. A little something in a jar

"What's that?" 

"It's a jar, Lyssi." Three people, Lysithea, Lorenz, and Marianne, were in Mercedes' room, hiding next to some books.

Lysithea rolled her eyes. "Yes, I can see that, Lorenz. I have eyes." 

"I don't think that's the point..." Marianne sat at the very edge of the shelf.

"Correct, Mari." Lorenz nodded before looking over at Lysithea. "The point, Lyssi, is what's _in_ the jar." 

"Those cookies?" 

"Mercedes made them. So, per teacher Byleth's request, we'll be getting snacks for everyone tonight." Lorenz didn't like the idea, but it was that or Ignatz having to steal the whole jar, again. Lorenz could handle a lot, but not another room switch with Marianne, not when the jar was missing. 

"Let's go." Lysithea jumped, Lorenz and Marianne behind her. 

In the evening, when the travelling theatre troupe put on a play for the academy, one class sat under the stage, eating biscuit crumbs and sugar. All of the golden deer sat there, telling each other about what others listened to. 

"So my brother just sent me a letter, I don't know how to respond, I'm always laying around when we're safe from view." Hilda, snacking on her crumb, was sitting cross-legged between Claude and Marianne. "I don't do that many interesting things." 

Leonie was the first to speak up. "Then write about the other day, when I had to attack Edelgard." 

"I guess I could do-" 

A loud bang sounded from above them, probably someone stepping on the stage extra hard. Raphael, who was now standing up, raised a fist towards them. 

"Please be careful, someone could get hurt!" 


	4. Mission

Edelgard had been lying in the infirmary- from the other day, when a girl attacked her- when someone had carried said girl inside and laid her on the bed. Though Edelgard was alright, Manuela still told her to rest, as hallucinations could stay for a few weeks. So, naturally, Edelgard opened her mouth. 

"Is my psyche really taking pity on me?" 

The awake girl glared before answering. "You've missed us!? We sit right behind you!" 

"No need to shout." The anger in the girl's voice seemed off as if it wasn't quite real. "It's just me." 

"Well, shut up then. Rest, you need it." The girl placed the attacker on the other bed. 

It took a second of watching the attacker for Edelgard to realise it, but the attacker was beaten not only black and blue but was also bleeding from multiple places. Uneven chest movements, weak breaths, a constant grip on the sheets as if it was a lifeline. It seemed as if a single cough was enough to break her bones. 

Was this guilt? 

Ignatz shot an arrow into the last bandit, sending him to the ground. Though it wasn't his first kill, it still felt new. This wasn't even his first battle of life and death. Sometimes, a wild cat at the monastery would try to hurt him during the night, another reason to have a blade on him at all times. 

"That's all of them! Let's go see Lion!" Ignatz held out his arms for Marianne to grab and pull. When the horse galloped past, all he knew was that he was on it's back. 


	5. Middle of the night

"Claauuuude. Claaaauuuuuuuudde. Claaaaauuuuuuuu-" 

"Oh, Hilda!" Both Claude and Hilda turned to look at Raphael. "Nice seeing you here! I'm on my way to the dining hall, want to join?" 

Hilda perked up. "Sure! That'd be lovely." 

"Well, I am somewhat hungry myself. Let's go get the others before we depart." Claude jumped down the hall, where most of the others slept. 

Felix hated how Hubert could get whiny when it was night and hunger had struck. While Hubert himself was oblivious to it, Felix could identify it far before anyone else seemed to be able to identify it. So, being the 'good' boyfriend he was, Felix and Hubert made their way towards the dining hall. Though it seemed as if there were a few lit candles. And chanting. Candles and chanting. They _probably_ weren't trying to summon a demon. 

Still, despite Felix being the brave one (_no_, he was _not_ sweating and shaking a bit. And it was totally Hubert that wanted to go back), Hubert opened the door. 

"Pray to the cheese gods, Hilda! You do not understand how unholy your actions are! They will take their anger, their judgement, and their cheese, to bring this unholy ritual to a stop!" A guy with a really bad haircut and a rose was shouting at a girl who was holding a wok pan and chopsticks. "Pray for your life, Hilda Valentine Goneril!" 

'Hilda' gave it a quick thought. "Eh, no. That requires a lot of effort and I'd rather have my life on the line than having to pray for three hours." 

"I agree with Lorenz, Hill. Turning cheese with chopsticks? Truly unholy." 

"Ignatz, I cannot tell if you're being sarcastic or serious." A third boy, this one crouching over a pan with four other people around it, said. He didn't quite seem like he was from Fódland. "I, for one, agree with Lorenz on this, Hilda you are a terrible human being." 

"Am not!" 

The one who everyone seemed to refer to as 'Lorenz' let out an unholy screech. "HILDA. YOU'RE FRYING A SINGLE SLICE OF GOAT CHEESE IN A WOK PAN AND TURNING IT WITH CHOPSTICKS. YOU ARE THE MOST UNHOLY PERSON ON THIS PLANET." 'Lorenz' fake coughed. "I apologise for losing my temper there." 

Felix's and Hubert's gazes travelled to the other side of the dining hall, in which Rhea was on her knees, chiming in a ring of red candles. Archbishop Rhea. 

A soft click was heard throughout the dining hall, no boys in sight. 


	6. The rumoured teacher's lounge

Byleth, on Manuela's shoulder, had been trading papers in silence when Hanneman mentioned something. 

"It's the last day of the great tree moon today." 

It took Byleth a second to realize what that meant. "The official day of searching for the teacher's lounge." 

"We have to protect you!" Manuela began running towards the cathedral, Hanneman short on her tail. 

While Byleth had been stuck under countless pillows, protected dearly by Manuela. Even though Byleth couldn't see anything, they didn't mind. Manuela was the kind of woman who apparently turned her pillows for when she slept, as the smell of shampoo and perfume were evident. Perhaps they could just fall asleep here...


	7. Take care of him

There were a few students originally admitted to the golden deer that couldn't turn small as they were either from a foreign country or exchange students. Those students posed as students from another house. One such example would be Haya Moreau, the one student that would need to be checked on every once in a while. Usually, it would be Lysithea, considering how she was the smallest person of them all, not today, though. 

Lysithea had broken a leg, according to Claude. It would be dangerous sending anyone else, Leonie and Hilda would scare him since he was awful at spotting them, Lorenz and Raphael were too tall, Marianne and Ignatz would just stare at him and sweat. The whole class were awful decisions and Claude was banned from going alone. 

"Goddess..."

"What's wrong Haya? You seem scared." Haya whipped around almost so harshly his whole desk went with him. It was only Annette- one of the few souls that might not have been a beast. 

It took Haya a second to realize he was staring deep into those abysmal eyes of Annette's. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to stare!" 

"Hey, it's fine! I've been meaning to ask you something about a map anyways..." 

"How are you adjusting, Haya?" Hilda asked, sipping some of her tea. "I saw you speaking with Annette and smiling today." 

"Well, H-Hilda, she had a problem with a map." 

"Good! That means you've been making friends, right?" Haya nodded in response. "Let's hope they invite you to tea sometime! Well, if you'll excuse I have somewhere to be, hairpins to make." 

Haya waved as Hilda made her way to her room. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In all honesty, I love this boy and would tottally write more of him or anyone else. I really want to but they're all really poor OCs that won't get too much screen time. hpddphhphpdddjhpdph 
> 
> Thanks for reading.


	8. Boy in the library

Sylvain had been getting complaints (and no, he had no idea why) about a ghost in the library. Some of the teachers had taken notice of it but done nothing. When the complaints kept piling up, Sylvain had had enough, he would get rid of the ghost, if it meant just a few seconds of not being hunted by scared girls. 

That was why he was here, in the library in the middle of the night, holding a lantern in one hand. He took a step forward. 

*..............* What was that? Singing? Talking? It was *...........* some kind of voice, Sylvain just couldn't figure out what. *................* 

The sound of a page turning right beside Sylvain made the boy pivot. The lantern fell with the redhead and his gaze flew up. 

"Ah." A boy, glowing green eyes, stared back at him. "Sorry, did I startle you?" 

"No need to worry! I'm fine!" 

"Good, I don't know what I would do if you'd be hurt, Sylvain." Sylvain had no idea if he was scared or charmed. This boy, this very pretty boy, knew his name and was reading in the middle of the night. 

In the end, something inside Sylvain was warm. 

"You know, Sylvain, you've been spending an awful lot of time in the library at night. Why's that?" Sylvain snapped out of his thoughts when Ingrid spoke to him. 

"No reason in particular." Ingrid didn't quite seem to like that answer. 

But instead of rebutting, a familiar, smooth voice was heard from the bookshelf. "The two of us have been having a bit of a rendezvous." 

Never had Sylvain fell off his bench so hard before.


	9. A Bernadetta problem

Bernadetta hugged her teddy bear tighter. She, alongside Hilda, had been ordered to make a few dresses for Rhea. Neither knew why they were here, or why they had to do it alone, but they wouldn't argue with Seteth. Anyone else? Yes. Seteth? That would happen when Bernadetta had kissed the man, in other words, never. 

"Um... Bernadetta?" The purple-haired girl was under a lot of pillows crying. 

"Where on earth is she?" Dorothea, between Caspar and Ferdinand, was walking down the halls. "I don't think Seteth would keep her for this long. Seriously, she's not at the academy..." 

Ferdinand put his hand on Dorothea's shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll find your... girlfriend? Best friend? I have no idea where women draw that line." 

"They draw it at 'hello'." While both Dorothea and Ferdinand knew it was wrong, they didn't bother to stop Caspar from commenting like that. The two of them just dragged Caspar off, so they understood his grumpiness. 

"Oh thank Sorne! Finally." The trio looked in front of them. A girl with pink hair was carrying Bernadetta like a bride. "I thought my arms would fall off." 

Before any of the three could ask why this stranger had Bernadetta, she laid the girl in Dorothea's arms. "Now, then, I'm off! Take good care of her, would you?" 

The girl ran off, leaving the trio with an unconscious Bernadetta in Dorothea's arms. 

Bernadetta shot up, screaming. "OH GODDESS NO! SHE'S A DEMON! A DEMON! DEMON, I SAY! HELP! AWAY FROM ME!" 

"Bernadetta!" The terrified girl made eye contact with Edelgard, who was holding her down. "Breathe. Tell us what happened, in a calm manner." 

"Well..." Bernadetta fiddled with her hands a bit. "I saw someone shrink before I passed out." 

"That makes no sense, Bernie. Are you sure it might just not have been a hallucination?"


	10. Fishing

Byleth sat on the fishing rod their father held out, Alois, Cathrine, Shamir, and Gilbert all holding out similar fishing rods next to Jeralt. While Byleth themselves couldn't fish with their father, they could experience the thrill by sitting on the rod. All of the knights were happily chatting away, not a care in the world, holding out their empty or hookless lines. 

Byleth looked down into the deep, a dirty green-blue only water managed. If they looked carefully enough, they swore they saw that one little part move or a little splash heard. It was truly magical to just stare down, hoping to spot anything. 

"You sure you're not falling off the line there, kid?" 

"Positive, Cathrine. But in case I do-" Byleth looked at the blonde. "-you wouldn't mind jumping in and saving me, right?" 

Catherine snorted. "That'll happen when I marry Shamir!" 

"I thought we already were married?" Shamir, who was now pushing Alois away to lean enough, asked. 

"We are, just without Manuela." 

Byleth sighed. "The man-chaser has girlfriends? Now _that _is interesting." 

Cathrine walked down the halls, Byleth in her outstretched hand. While Byleth still nibbled on some of their dinner, Cathrine was making her way towards the Cathedral. Most of the students were having dinner, as it was dinnertime, so Byleth had no reason to hide. 

The emphasis on 'most' was amplified when one of the blue lions' students walked past- or rather, inching amongst the wall while screaming and shouting. It was truly strange. 

His description kind of matched the description of the guy who walked into the dining hall during the middle of the night.


	11. Asleep

No, Byleth didn't check on their students just to see their sleeping faces. They checked on their students because if they didn't do it, no one would, and they'd rather not have the situation from last week happen again. 

They'd do anything to avoid having a student almost discovered. The first step to that was sleeping during the night. A quick jump was all it took. 

Ignatz, Raphael, and Lysithea had been sleeping in their assigned rooms, as usual. Hilda wasn't in her assigned room- probably with Marianne, in that case. Leonie was sleeping on a tree branch that Byleth could see from the upper floor. Lorenz and Marianne were sleeping in Felix's room, for some reason, as neither had it assigned to them. And Claude was probably in the library. The students who couldn't turn small- "biggies"- were also checked on, for safety reasons. 

Hilda still wasn't found anywhere, which concerned Byleth. If Hilda wasn't sleeping in the same room as any other student, Byleth would have to check all the other dorms. That posed a big problem because they had unmonitored sleep patterns, meaning Byleth could walk in on a waking student and let them discover that a teacher was tiny, not to mention if Hilda had accidentally woken up the student or was in the room. 

By Sorne's great-grandchild, Byleth really hoped Hilda wasn't in a room with a lively student. 

"Sleep tight, my little frightened." Hilda gently stroked Bernadetta's nose, kissing the top of the bridge. She sang all the while. "You shall mean... all to me, and more. 

I wish, I do. But I'm tiny, unlike you. 

May the lives, far up above, let us reunite in the next world. I truly wish, they did so. My love, I truly did." A single tear fell down Hilda's cheek and landed on the tip of Bernadetta's nose. "I truly did." 

Hilda pressed a quick kiss onto Bernadetta's eyelid before returning to her normal size and jumping to the door, ready to get back to her room. 

Something hung in the air as Hilda left, it wasn't anything Bernadetta would notice, but it hung there, clear as day. Perhaps, it was true sadness of a broken heart. 

...

All Hilda knew was that it wasn't just a single tear any more. 


	12. Prayers

There were five people often found praying, who belonged in the golden deer. While no one asked questions why these seemingly unrelated students prayed every day, they all knew each other's prayers far too well. Ignatz Victor, Marianne von Edmund, Lysithea von Ordelia, Leonie Pinelli, and Hilda Valentine Goneril. 

"King of nothingness 1:5; 'For I am Noxe, queen of the tiny. 1:6; I shall help whatever tiny life comes along to my place for consulting.'" Ignatz was mumbling, only Hilda and Marianne were close enough to understand, though. 

"Shush, if someone wasn't arguing with a stone wall over there, they'd hear you, Iggy." 

"Sorry." 

"Could you two just quiet? Some people here are praying." Leonie glared at Hilda and Ignatz. 

"Sorry." 

Every Friday in the Cathedral, there was a club for unknown or unpopular religions to be studied or told about. It had been organised by Flayn, as she had nothing better to do, ever. Seteth and Rhea had allowed it, which was understandable, as though they would stop Flayn from having fun and making friends. While most were there for the other religions to come into view- as Amrick, Mercedes and Eina did- others came there to talk about their religion- as Dedue, under the orders of Dimitri, and part of the golden deer. 

"So, if I have gotten this correctly-" Mercedes was the one asking Leonie, the conversation as to why she and Ignatz were there had started some minutes ago. "-Ethreena married off her son to a Duke of some-place for peace and to ensure the family line continued?" 

"Yeah, exactly. Lorenzeus married the Duke of Sanbuel and had a child named Lionette." Leonie was sitting on the back of her bench. 

"That makes no sense, why would someone marry off their son to a Duke if they wanted a child? Wouldn't it make more sense to marry him off to some maiden?" 

Leonie gave a quick glare to Amrick. "It's what's in the scriptures! Let him marry his husband."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The irony is that if Amrick was an actual character in Fuukasetsugetsu, he'd be a bi option that wasn't gaybaiting.


	13. Felix has gone mad, someone get the wok pan

All of the golden deer had been praying in their miniature form with Byleth in the middle of the night. It wasn't uncommon for them all to pray together on Saturday nights when no one else prayed. Mostly because they could be in their miniature forms and not waste energy best spent elsewhere but also because they could quote ridiculous verses and everyone would laugh until they dropped dead. Once, when they were praying for their victory on a mission, Claude quoted something about some kind of holy pan and, by Sorne's sanity, no one could breathe for the rest of the hour. 

Today, they had done their prayers and were on their way back from the cathedral. They would have to pass by their classroom, Leonie claimed to have forgotten her personal copy of the first book in their religion. So, of course, the whole class went there and found it on her bench. It was one of the easier jobs done. 

Now, it was just to go back. 

Felix had only forgotten his textbook in the classroom. Naturally, he had to get it as Ingrid would chew him out on how it could get stolen or it could be eaten by a cat. Felix really didn't want that today, or tomorrow, or ever. The woman could disappear for all he cared. 

Of course, life has this _very _subtle (see: sarcasm) way of handing him lemons in the most copious amounts. Hubert was possibly the second largest before the event. 

All the students from the whole chanting in the dining hall were there, growing to human size. "...what?" 

"Oh no! We've been- hey hold on! You're that guy from the dining hall thing!" Hilda was pointing a finger at Felix. 

"I... you... what...? I don't understand? I... what?" Felix vaguely gestured to all eight people. "What is this...? I thought- I believed- what?" He was at the brink of tears. 

The one Felix recognised as Ignatz looked at all the others. "Anybody got any ideas!?"


	14. Rhea

Rhea. 

She was the archbishop, the mother of the church, the one person who managed to start a cult about the alliance that was gaining numbers quickly. The first two points were widely known, the third was not. 

She knew that there were tiny people from the alliance, unholy or holy, depending on the person. The cult had been popularised when king Lambert had joined it, putting it on the brink of religion. 

"Lady Rhea!" Rhea didn't turn around, she just sat there, in the middle of her red circle. Seteth paused for a second. "Nevermind." 


	15. Boy in the library.2

Ever since Ingrid had heard of the rendezvous in the library, she had always accompanied Sylvain to said library. Though she never met Claude in person, she swore the name felt familiar. Where had she heard it before? She couldn't quite place it. Perhaps some teacher had been complaining about him in the background and her mind just kind of understood it but at the same time not? A possibility. 

No matter how slim the possibility, Ingrid would believe it. 

"Ingrid, are you alright? You're staring blankly at the page and Haya is crying over it." Ingrid didn't look up at Mercedes. "Oh no, Kalmin's trying to fix the problem. Felix is too. Please stop, Ingrid, Annette and Ashe are trying to scale the bookshelf." 

Claude had readied himself for this night. He had put on that dancer costume Hilda made for him and Lysithea had put on an oversized grappler shirt. How did Claude convince Lysithea to do this with him? It may or may not have included one week of Lysithea being allowed to eat a lot of Mercedes' candies, Claude stealing them. No matter what the answer was, Claude got results. 

"I'm supposed to just sit here and distract the lesbian?" 

Claude nodded. "Basically." 

"Got it." Lysitha laid down on a table, her arms over her head and one of her feet on said table. Claude never noticed those black high heel boots before. 

Claude got into position himself, laying on the floor as if he had fallen. It would probably be enough to fool Ingrid and Sylvain. Even if Sylvain would be far too affected because of this, it would keep Ingrid away from the library, for a while. 

The library door opened and the first thing Claude heard was Ingrid's voice. "I get it, Annette is totally girlfriend material, but you have to understand, Sylvain, that she probably has a crush on some non-bi girl." 

"Hello, beautiful!" A thud was heard and Claude could hear how Lysithea got off the table. 

"Claude's behind that shelf, he wanted to talk to you. I'll take care of Ingrid." There was a pause. "Claude, get up, Ingrid is possibly dead!" 


	16. Privacy

While the white-haired girl dragged Ingrid away, Claude was being poorly supportive in the tightest dancer dress Sylvain had ever seen. Sylvain didn't need to know why Claude had put it on, only that he was probably going to die from looking at it too long. Not that Sylvain would mind... 

"Go! Go Lyssi! You can- you can definitely do this." The only thing ruining the moment was Claude cheering on 'Lyssi' so poorly instead of being his usual flirtatious self. "I believe in you... please don't let a teacher find out about how we nearly killed Ingrid... go..." 

In all honesty, Sylvain was stuck between helping 'Lyssi' carry Ingrid or cheer her on with Claude. In the end, Sylvain picked up Ingrid and began making his way towards the infirmary with Ingrid's head in his hands, 'Lyssi' carrying the legs somewhat, and Claude looking guilty the whole walk. He really hoped Manuela would understand... 

So, Manuela understood. Mainly, Sylvain's need for a private room with Claude, but she still understood. "Boys need to be boys," was all she said before walking out with the girl Sylvain now knew as Lysithea. 

(With her ear to the infirmary door, Manuela listened in on their conversation.)

"So..." Sylvain had to break the ice. "... I don't think you planned this. I really didn't want Ingrid there, so I tried to escape when the class was at its madness." 

"Yeah." Something about Claude seemed off, somehow. Claude was off in many ways, knowing fluent Almyran yet speaking without an accent, mumbling far too quietly, only found occasionally if one knew where to search, he knew far too much, but _this, right now, _was far more off than any of that would ever be together. "I've... got something to tell you." 

"Me too." Claude seemed surprised at Sylvain's words. "I have something to tell you, too." 

Sylvain took Claude's hand. "I know it can't nearly be as important as what you're about to tell me, but you have to know." He squeezed a bit tighter, cheeks flushing. "I... I think I'm in love with you, Claude. I think I love you more than empty words." 

A silence followed. _'Is this rejection? Is Claude's way of telling me he's not interested? He probably doesn't want to hear-' _a hand turned Sylvain's head. Claude leaned in. 


	17. Dining hall

Dedue had been eating in the dining hall, accidentally skipping the meal earlier because the religion club had an emergency meeting. Another student- he had seen him in the cathedral once or twice, praying- had saved him a meal, at least twice as muscle-y as Dedue himself. And blonde. Dedue had to note the fact that he was blonde. Somehow, that was all that stuck out to Dedue, not his shirt or his odd way of conversing. It was his _hair. _

"So then, when Mari had thanked me, she climbed the tree and began shouting. She might've been drunk, she has alcohol in her room." Though Dedue barely spoke, the guy was happily chatting away with himself. "I don't know how Mari got the alcohol, but she did and treats everyone sometimes." 

Two days later, when Dedue was stuck in the garden for too long and Dimitri was visiting Ingrid in the infirmary- supposedly, an accident had happened in the library- the blonde boy came around with dinner for Dedue. He was strange. 

"Your name's Dedue, right? I thought you would like some dinner! Good thing I noticed you before I ate all of my food." Gods, that boy. 

"You need not spend time around me." 

The blonde shook his head. "But if no one delivers you dinner when you don't make it to the dining hall then you'll starve! Someone has to do it and I'm not letting a fellow student starve." 

"I-" 

"-am a man of Duscur, right? That doesn't matter! If you're hungry, then you have to eat, even if you don't want to." The blonde paused, a shadow seemed to fall on his face for a second before he went back to smiling. "Eating not only helps you grow, but it also provides you with energy to study and live! Eat something, no matter how small! Even something as little as a veggie helps." 

The blonde left. 


	18. Necklace

Hilda had been sipping some tea with the blue lions students when Raphael appeared. "Hilda!" 

"Oh hi, Rae! What brings you here?" All of the blue lions were ignored, all but a certain poser. "As you can see-" Hilda gestured to the poser. "-I'm having a nice tea party with our friend in armour." 

"You know that necklace for my sister Mari would help me with?" Hilda got up and began walking, Raphael following her. "Mari almost broke her arm trying to calm the worm." 

"Hiya! Take that, disgusting creature!" Hilda kicked the worm into Hubert's wall, something akin to a sound escaping the creature. "Now, let us have your skin to make that necklace!" 

Marianne quickly translated, vowels in a constant flow. She waited for a few seconds before turning back to Hilda and Raphael. "It says it will give us the fat part of itself." 

"Yaya! That means Maya gets a nice part of of a worm! It's better than her having to be big to wear a necklace." Raphael was his usual, upbeat self. "Thanks, Mari, Hill. I can handle it from here, though." 

Hilda shook her head. "Nonsense, let us help at least a bit." 


	19. They have found someone like them

Felix was sitting in the corner of the get-along party, glaring at Claude. Not only was that man an imposter, but he also had imposter friends at this party. Ignatz and Lorenz were drunk, he had been the one to push them out of the building. The knights of Seiros were trying to stop Gilbert from drinking out the whole wine cellar and almost dying from alcohol poisoning. Hanneman was trying his best to not scream as Annette or Linhardt looked towards any beverage containing alcohol. And Bernadetta was in the same corner as Felix, avoiding festivities. 

Why were they in the same corner? Quite simple. Bernadetta overheard Felix grumbling about 'tiny monsters who look human'. It was a description Bernadetta understood immediately. 

In the end, Bernadetta and Felix had bonded over the fact and were trying their very best to learn the name of every single beast that could shrink in size. So far, they had only a face to Claude and Hilda. 

"Why did we throw this party?" 

"I have no idea, dad. I think it was Rhea's idea." 

"That woman is crazy and she should be beheaded." 

"Want to help me overthrow her? I think Hanneman will join, too." 

"..." 

"..." 

"We'll set off at dawn." 

"Seteth, who are those people...?" Rhea was at a window, staring at the group of people who all wore clothes with the crest of flames on them. It seemed as if Jeralt was leading the group. "Is that Jeralt?" 

"Lade Rhea, we need to get you out of here!"


	20. "Wyvern"

Claude sat on the back of the beast, controlling it with the reigns in his hands. The wind flew through his hair. When his view wandered down, he saw just how small everything was, how truly feeble it was. 

He saw how Felix and Hubert were walking to their dorms, still outside. Claude shouted. 

"Land on him, my dear!" 

Felix had been explaining to Hubert that he wasn't crazy and Bernadetta was also seeing these people when a black bird began attacking him. No, he did not see. 

Hubert began trying to get the bird away, only managing to get it to attack him instead. Then, Felix noticed it. Claude was leaping from the back of the bird and into oblivion. 

What. The. Actual. Heck. 


	21. Culture

It put Dorothea off knowing that one of her classmates wasn't stalking her and Manuela as much as the girl used to. Morana Morrigan Agassi. An Almyran known for being Dorothea's and Manuela's stalker. Neither enjoyed it, but Morana not spending all her time stalking Dorothea and Manuela was as concerning as it gets. 

Edelgard had made an off-hand comment about it and panic broke loose on many ends. Dorothea herself began running around, Caspar was shouting, Hubert was observing the train wreck of a class, and Bernadetta moved to another table. 

Dorothea's panic came from the realisation that Amrick and Morana had probably argued again would be attempting the murders of each other, Caspar's stemmed from Dorothea's and the rest of the class had long given up on the class. She swore she saw Bernadetta whip out a fine bottle of wine with some dude. 

In general, Morana being gone could only indicate bad things happening. 

Claude sat on the railing in the library with his fellow golden deer students, staring at the woman sorting through books. She wasn't wearing the usual female uniform, as anyone could see her pants. Morana Morrigan Agassi (not Morana Wales). The one girl who got mistaken for a boy and didn't complain. 

"Dorothea~" Morana sang, picking out books. "She is my queen~" 

No one mentioned that she sang off or didn't even have a good voice, nor that they would, kept Tomas on the lower floor. "And I'd follow her to the end~" 

"Dorothea~" Morana handed a book to Ignatz. "She is my queen~" 

"So, you think she knows?" Bernadetta was hiding in a bush with Felix, spying on Morana. The reason Bernadetta and Felix were spying on her was because of something they overheard her sing a few hours ago. "Are you sure? If you're wrong and she finds us, we're dead." 

"I already know that!" Bernadetta looked back towards Morana, who was scream-singing at the top of her lungs. 

"DOROTHEA! YOU'RE MY QUEEN! AND-" Morana shouted so loudly she couldn't even hold the tone properly. "-IIIIIIIIIIIII AM UNDER YOUR COMMAND!" 


	22. Religion

Linhardt sat in the library, looking through a religion book he found. He had never seen the book before, quite surprising, really. It was one of the thicker books in the library. It really was amazing that Linhardt never noticed it. 

"Lords of Almyra 7:1; Almyra rose her hand towards the sky, a gesture of reconciliation to her servant. 7:2; 'Gautier,' she called forth sea and blade with the name she bestowed him. 'Gautier my son. Gautier my servant.' 7:3; Almyra-" 

"Reading religion, Linhardt?" The boy looked up to see someone with a bad haircut and a rose. "I couldn't help but overhear you reading scriptures. I know many that would read the book incorrectly, as one translated it directly from the scrolls, which has another format. In reality, a lot of people try to read it and do so incorrectly. It wounds me. It wounds the religious to see people reading their holy texts incorrectly." 

Linhardt paused. "Who are you and how do you know my name?" 

"I'm Lorenz- feel free to call me Lo if my name is too long- and between Edelgard shouting at you to get up and Caspar screaming your name, one picks up words." Lorenz sat down at the chair in front of him. "You seem somewhat interested in Almyra, considering your notes." 

Linhardt looked to where Lorenz gestured, a notebook filled with observations from this book. "Yes, I am. Sorne is an obvious favourite by the book, considering how she has eleven 'Knight of the Zephyr's, she is quite easy to grasp. The only one I cannot seem to grasp fully is Almyra, despite her many texts." 

"I can tell you all about Almyra." Lorenz was a few centimetres from Linhardt's face. "Only if you want to know, though." 

"Yes." 

Two notebooks later, and Lorenz still wasn't done telling Linhardt about Almyra. Though part of the blame was on Linhardt for noting down a lot of details such as the name of all of Amyra's vessels and enemies, not to mention all her retainers. Another thing Linhardt had noted down was dates, and oh boy were there many of those. There was Almyra's arrival, Almyra's death, Almyra's coming back to life, Almyra's rebirth, Almyra's second rebirth, Almyra's awakening, Almyra learning to dance the great dance of Almyra, Almyra recruiting Gautier as her first retainer, Almyra's honour festival, Almyra's life with Sorne, Almyra's killing spree, Almyra teaching Gautier how to dance, Almyra having a child with Lionette, Gautier's death, Almyra recruiting Gautier's child, Almyra's half-death, Almyra going mad, Almyra's reawakening, Almyra having a second child with Lionette, Almyra making the river of time, Almyra choosing a champion, Almyra handing down her Crest to her champion, Almyra's funeral, Almyra's second funeral, Almyra's champion fighting the other three great champions, Almyra's second funeral, Almyra's second half-death, to mention some of the more important events. There were a lot of Almyra just travelling with Gautier and Gautier's child. 

That was about half of the first book. There were seven books. _Seven_. 

Lorenz turned to one of the last pages in the book. "Now, Guardian of the statue is as vague as it gets, but it holds key information on Almyra, such as why she's named that and why the country got named after her." 


	23. Dance, fiend (it'll be our last)

Though the white heron cup wouldn't happen in a long time, Sylvain still wanted to get some practice in. Claude also wanted to get practice in, so it was only natural the two of them decided to practice together. Though it may not have been a formal dance they were practising, it was enough for Sylvain. 

Claude placed a plate of cookies and a bowl of water on one of the half-walls. They were in the knight's quarters, during the night, all alone. No one would watch them, or hear them, only wonder where they were. 

Step forward, step backwards. Sylvain leaned, Claude leaned. Claude slowly spun Sylvain. Step forward, step backwards. Sylvain leaned. 

Claude leaned in and began nibbling on Sylvain's ear. "I know this isn't part of the dance, Claude." 

Lysithea was jumping from place to place, searching for Claude. She would have continued if she didn't find Claude, dancing, in the training grounds. He was dancing the dance of Almyra with Sylvain, not a care in the world. Their movements were fluid, stoic, perfect. It was as if the dance was made just for the two of them. Lysithea saw how Sylvain placed his right foot somewhere on Claude's hip, showing off how far into the dance they actually were. They had just reached the first quarter mark, three hours into the dance. 

"Darn it, Claude. Now I, too, want to dance that dance." Lysithea turned her back before jumping out. "I'll have to ask Hilda to dance with me."


	24. River of time

**Hello, Almyra. **

Greetings of mine brought to you, Lionette. 

**Nice seeing you here. **

May I speak of the same opinion? 

**Shut up. **

... 

**Wait? You actually shut up!? Hold on- **

Lionette. You are of very poor mannerisms. 

**Sorry. I'm just not good at talking like you do. **

Your forgiveness is alright. 

**Thank you. Say, Almyra... **

Yes? 

**Have you found a Gautier yet? **

My interest has been brought to one certain Gautier. Though he not of a Crest bearing, he was the heir of once upon the past. He bears the name of Miklan. His face is reminiscent of Gautier's. 

**So you want Miklan to be your retainer? **

Yes, I do. No, not want, need. 

**And you knew I would be by this river today? **

Yes. 

**... five past three and he's your's. **

You have my gratitude, Lionette. I promise you I shan't disappoint. 

**Good. I don't want to have to wait another five years again. **

I must be apologising to you for that, Lionette. I gave you my power, sheltered you from Sothis, provided you with everything you needed, yet... I still failed you. 

**Hey, I don't mind. I'm still immortal. **

Lionette... have you found anyone to inherit one of your own to? 

**Yeah, her name is the modern version of mine. **

How charming.


	25. Hubert

Gods. 

There were times when Leonie loved being assigned to Hubert's room and times she didn't. This was one of the times when she wished upon any star willing to listen that Linhardt would wake up. Any other time? She'd let him sleep. This time? No. 

The Crest-adorer had decided to fall asleep right outside the door, somehow falling into the exact position that was stupid enough to be a bother but comfortable to actually sleep all while leaning against the door. And Leonie couldn't move him because someone might've decided to walk past right then and there or Linhardt woke up. 

So, Leonie was stuck in the same room as a very hormone-driven Hubert and his equally hormone-driven boyfriend. Leonie was hard to notice, she had been told. So, recap. Linhardt had ensured Leonie was stuck in the same room as two stripping boyfriends and she couldn't be noticed. 

Now, she could be jumping from the window, but where's the fun in that? 

"So you mean to tell me you got stuck in Hubert's room and the only way out was through the window or fight them?" Manuela bandaged the sleeping Felix. 

"Yes." 

Manuela paused. "Leonie, where in the holy hecketh is your logic?" 


	26. Study

Claude had a thick book over his legs and an even thicker book in front of him. Some control exams were coming up and Claude seemed to be one amongst the few who studied. 

Lorenz and Linhardt were tutoring Caspat to the best of their abilities. Annette was blind to Ignatz and Marianne in Eina and Morana's books. Ferdinand was studying with his head in Dimitri's lap. And lastly, but not least, Hubert was tutoring Bernadetta, Ashe, Dorothea, Mercedes, a sleeping Edelgard, and a crying Haya. 

Lorenz lightly tapped on a book, signaling Claude to hide. Just as Claude got in under the thick book on his legs, Ashe ran up to Lorenz. 

"Lorenz, may I ask you a question about this part of this book?" 

"Go on ahead." Talk about a smooth voice. 

"Well, it says that the average height for people in the alliance is 23.8 cm. You, Eina, and Haya are from the alliance but you're all far too tall to even be imagined-" Ashe got cut off by Annette sneezing. 

Lorenz took the opportunity to quickly excuse himself, bringing Claude with him inside the book. 

"Why didn't I study?" Edelagrd sat with hundreds of books around her and Petra. 

"I may not understand what is being so hard of studying." Petra held out a book confidently. The book was upside down. "None of the words in the papers are making much sense." 

Bernadetta fumbled with a few papers. "Why did we go to the bread shop!?" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit late, but at least I didn't skip it. (Normally, I post on Sundays, it is currently 02:29 at Monday morning)


	27. Bernadetta is no better, Gilbert

"Father, please, put down that bottle of expensive wine that has aged for two and a half centuries with a piece of mouldy bread in it." Annette, as per the usual routine, was on Gilbert duty today. The Gilbert duty is simple, you stopped Gilbert from getting alcohol poisoning. "You could die." 

Gilbert pulled out the cork and lifted up the bottle a bit. "Father, stop." 

Annette shrieked when Gilbert began drinking. 

Bernadetta had been banned from her own room by Petra and Edelgard, so she went for a walk. When she reached the fishing pond, she saw far too many people around one man, all too panicked. Alois was trying to hold up Annette with Flayn and Rhea, Seteth was citing scriptures, Manuela and Hanneman were crying while Holding one of Gilbert's hands, Shamir and Cyril were attempting to remove a bottle of wine from Gilbert's other hand, Cathrine and Jeritza were doing far too violent CPR, and Tomas was just there. 

There were two things Bernadetta needed alcohol for. The first reason was that no one but Felix believed her when she said that there were mini-people. The second was madness like this. 

Suddenly, Bernadetta felt watched. It took her a second to realise that Rhea and Flayn stood right next to her. 

"I need some liquor." As Bernadetta turned around, a loud gasp was heard. 

Wait, darn it! The distillations were in her room! 


	28. Is she going crazy?

Mercedes swore something was off today. It wasn't the cookie jar with a cookie thief, she had counted the cookies twice and checked with the control number. Mercedes was sure she didn't forget anything and her bed was made. She had checked every object in the room with a ruler, as the joke Petra once pulled on her needed this obsessive behaviour. And the drawers all had their things is them and her book of prayers was in her bag. Yet, something was off. 

When she had finished brushing her hair, she realised what was wrong. 

There were tiny, minuscule, blue strands of hair in Mercedes' gracious locks. 

"Mari..." Hilda mumbled, completely ignorant of the argument Lysithea was having with the professor. 

*...............* Mari was holding herself in a fetal position. *..................* A few silent tears fell down her cheeks. 

Ignatz put a hand on Mari's back. "I'm sure Mercedes won't notice anything." 

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE CAN'T TRACE THESE HAIRS!?" 

"I MEAN, WE CANNOT TRACE THEM!" 

"BUT WHY!?" 

"I... I don't know... I'm awful with magic."

"Felix, please, I've seen you getting Hubert wrapped around your finger, that is impossible if you're not Edelgard." 

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................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................fine." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	29. Even Hubert has morals

Not many knew but... Petra loved something she once found in her personal library in Brigid. Her cousin had called it 'fanfiction'. While most were passionate stories not meant for children such as herself, she occasionally found a nice love story or a vampire story. Though her father had disapproved of Petra reading fanfiction, he couldn't stop her, he could never stop his lovely daughter. Naturally, since Petra had loved reading so much, she taught herself to write fanfiction. 

She promised her cousin to write about couples or friendships she found endearing. Petra took up her quill and continued on her personal favourite, _Love's deceit. _Basically, it started out as Annette being adopted by Alois after Gilbert died in an accident but the story turned into a secret relationship between Alois and Jeralt after the blonde mercenary's appearance. Not to mention the taboo love drama between Annette and an original character called Bylith. The quill touched the paper. 

_Though Alois knew he gambled in personal affairs when he touched Jeralt's hand, he knew it wouldn't be too late to go back to nothing more than friends with benefits, he knew he could still go back. But even if he wouldn't die, Alois knew Jeralt was the only man he truly ever loved. _

Petra had been building up a bit of Alois being immortal, but that settled it, Alois was now immortal in this story. 

_"Jeralt." Alois had known the man since he was a boy, if only for a few days. "I... I have to talk to you." _

_Jeralt nodded. _

_"Do you remember what Lady Rhea said of a saint named Einar?" He knew he was treading thin ice, mentioning not only his old name but also mentioning Rhea. _

_"Yeah, I know a lot." _

Petra placed the quill back in its glass whatever the people of Fódland had named those ink things. Petra had reached the end of the page, the end of her first book. Perhaps she should have named the book something with the number one in it, as she would be writing more books of this series. Still, she should probably get back to writing _Secret, secret, secrecy._

Oh no! Where was it!? Where was _Love's deceit_!? She had written it in Fódlese, as she needed the practice. If she had lost it and Edelgard or Bernadetta found it, word would get out that Petra liked writing! No one could know she liked fanfiction! 

"_I... I cannot live without you, Annette. You're more than my sister- you're more than my family! You're..." Bylith hesitated, all this time, she had loved her supposed sister in all the wrong ways. "... You're my heart and soul_-" The door slammed open to the girls' meeting and Edelgard tried her best to hide the book she found. "Petra!" 

Petra fell to the floor, crying. "I have lost the place of my book..."

Ignatz, Ashe, and Hubert all glared at Edelgard.


	30. Ribbon bonds are far too frail

Hilda knew she was always treading thin ice when she asked to be moved to Bernadetta's room. Not only was Bernadetta always in her room, but she was also awake most of the time, too. Still, Hilda had to do it, not for her health, but for her heart. If her heart was like a ribbon, it was important she took care of it. She had once read a poem in the religious texts. 

_Ribbon bonds, ever frail. _

_Only known by those who hail _

_from stone and dust. _

_We shall wait, until dusk. _

It reminded Hilda mostly of herself. Though the poem was very popular, very few had actually read it. Most would hate it if they read within context. It was during Almyra's madness when she was attempting the murder of Lionette. Hilda saw a bit of herself in Almyra, having expectations thrust upon her, loving people she couldn't have, sitting upon her throne, all alone. Though many stories varied of Almyra's reason for madness, one thing was certain; Gautier's death had something to do with it. Hilda often thought it a shame Gautier got turned into a surname, it would have fit better as a first name. It could have meant a lot of positive things. 

In the alliance, ribbons were a sign of blind trust and fragile bonds, many who had a marriage within the alliance used ribbons instead of rings, as the church did. The ceremony of a wedding was something the church had made up, as people (supposedly) needed a fancy party to become married. 

"Linhardt, are you obsessed with those books or something? You've been reading them non-stop for the past week now." Caspar noted that Linhardt hadn't even turned the page for a few minutes, either. "Uh... Linhardt? Do you need some fresh air?" 

Edelgard spoke up when Linhardt didn't respond. "Take him for some air, Caspar." 

"Got it." Caspar got up and began leading Linhardt out of the classroom, past the crying Petra. (Something about a book, she had said). Once they were outside, Caspar realised Linhardt was still looking in the book. "Linhardt? Everything alright?" 

Caspar looked into the book. 

There was a tiny girl there, no taller than a few centimetres. There was a tiny girl in a book. 

_WHAT- _

"EEP!" The girl was looking frantically between Caspar and Linhardt. "I can explain!" 

"So there's a race of miniature people in the alliance? Fascinating." Linhardt was sitting on a bench with Caspar at his side and the tiny Hilda in his outstretched hand. 

Caspar had shouted a bit at Hilda before settling in and listening, but in general, he was fine. Hilda had just sat there and taken Caspar shouting at her the whole while, ignoring Linhardt. It was strange. 

"Yeah, kind of is." Hilda looked down into her lap before suddenly hopping up, stars in her eyes. "I know! You two should have a meal with our class sometime! The professor will be there, too!" 

Caspar laughed. "Now you're talkin'!" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now my two best eagle boys know.


	31. Dinner

"Rae! Don't talk and eat at the same time! We don't understand!" 

"Rell, reamny marn mamammnr!" 

Caspar sighed. Both he and Linhardt had agreed to eat lunch with the golden deer and their professor. Though Linhardt didn't seem to mind, Caspar was starting to regret it. They were sitting in the big wyvern-training field, on a small blanket, eating very strangely. 

Caspar and Linhardt had been given colossal sandwiches, Raphael was shoving multiple of those sandwiches into his mouth simultaneously, Lysithea was in her tiny form, eating some type of crumb, Lorenz was sitting on a _throne _he brought with him, Leonie was eating her sandwich and blankly staring at the sky while lying on the ground, Marianne was eating on top of a horse, Hilda was sitting on the same horse, eating crumbs Marianne dropped, Ignatz was licking what seemed to be tea leaves, and the professor was eating a fish the size of Raphael's whole upper body. Not to mention Jeralt eating the same fish. 

Where was Claude? To put it simply, he was in the sky, on a white wyvern, squashed between Cyril and Seteth. 

"Hey, Leader man! Eat something!" Claude didn't respond to Hilda. "Claude!" 

Caspar almost dropped his bags because he realised something. All of the knights of Seiros knew of the tiny race that was the alliance. 

"Caspar, how are you faring? Caspar?" Dorothea asked. 

Eina hummed. "Perhaps we should bring him to the infirmary, for safety's sake." 

All Caspar registered was that he was put on top of someone's shoulder. "Don't worry, Ferdie, I'm sure he won't be mad!" 


	32. A visit

"Big brother!" Raphael got almost fell over because of how hard Maya tackled him. "I found you!" 

Raphael began laughing and spun his sister around. She was so tiny compared to him and her arms were far too tiny to actually hold on, not to mention her blonde curls blocking her vision. Maya Kirsten, Raphael's little sister. 

"Oh no." One could almost sense Hilda's dread. "Not him." 

Hilda got tacked by a very happy Holst. "My little Hildie-Wildie!" 

"Hiya... brother..." 

There was a miniature army making its way towards the monastery, which concerned Rhea. When she found out about the army, she put the golden deer (posers and three other students included) to fight them off, the Knights of Seiros at their side. Holst and Maya also joined in, because of course, they would. The golden deer had put on their battle outfits- a series of outfits that went from 'kinky' to 'bikini'. 

So, recap. Claude was fighting in a dancer's outfit on top of a wyvern, Raphael was fighting in what seemed to be the female version of a brigand, Hilda was wearing some rags and armour and no underwear, Lorenz was wearing a maid dress, Lysithea was wearing that oversized grappler shirt and those same black boots from chapter fifteen, Marianne was just wearing shorts and nothing else, Ignatz was in a black skin-tight halfway-leather bodysuit and black high heels, and Leonie was just in a bikini and cape. At some point, the whole class had thought it a good idea. 

Now was not that point. (Ignatz swore he heard Holst scream in the distance and darn were these high-heels not meant for running in).


	33. Art

Ignatz let his brush flow on his canvas, filling them with light, colour. Another stroke, another option, another possibility, another motive. It was all, it was his vision, his hopes and dreams. 

He hoped Sorne would tell Almyra she was beautiful in his opinion, with, or without, Gautier by her side. 

Lorenz hoped Sorne would forgive him. He was writing, words, sentences, poems, all flowing through his quill. Poems about life, death, prays, lifes, and lives. The gods, goddesses, saints, demi-gods, humans. 

He hoped Sorne would forgive him for writing poems of her youthful appearance. 

Hilda hoped he-god, Tertruese, would forgive her for not dancing in his image earlier. She hoped Raphael and her would be able to be forgiven. 

Their hands entwined like a step in the dance. 

Marianne was making a bouquet. Not for anyone in the monastery, but to thank Sorne. Sorne didn't need to come into her room last night, she didn't need to teach Marianne of just how much life meant, how it wasn't Marianne's fault, or how Marianne would always be loved. But Sorne did- she took time out of her day to meet Marianne. Sorne could just have visited a god instead- thousand of prays were prayed every second- but no, Sorne came to Marianne. 

Marianne still didn't like her life, but an order to recover was an order, even if made by someone insignificant. 


	34. Breakup

Hubert had just... broke up with him out of nowhere. It felt wrong, somehow. Felix had always accommodated Hubert, learnt magic because of him- he gave away all he was to him! Why!? Why did the people he loved always leave him!? Why wouldn't they stay? Why would they always depart with harsh words and betray him like this!? Glenn had promised him they would have a big feast when he returned! He had promised Felix so much... joy, happiness... yet he died. He had promised Felix he would never be alone again, in his own, harsh way. For years, Felix had tried his best- not enough. He tried harder- still not enough. He had stopped spending time with everyone to train- still not enough. 

Hubert had been kind, he had not left him. He was a fool- he realised that now. Hubert's words were kind, held promise, loved him over sweet little nothings. No one was kind, never. Of course Hubert would use him to gain information. 

Felix had stopped feeling happiness a long time ago, he now saw that. He was never happy, he was distracting himself. 

"Felix, are you alright?" Ingrid asked- her voice reached through the door quite well. "Everyone's worried about you." 

"Leave me alone." 

Ingrid kicked the door. "FELIX! YOU BETTER COME OUT RIGHT NOW! NO HAS SEEN YOU FOR THE PAST MONTH AND EVERYONE IS GETTING WORRIED! EVEN THE KNIGHTS OF SEIROS ARE WORRIED! IF YOU'RE NOT OPENING THE DOOR THEN I WILL PERSONALLY KICK IT DOWN!" 

"THEN KICK IT DOWN YOU HOG!" Felix could feel how tears threatened to fall. "SEE WHAT I CARE! LEAVE ME BE! DIDN'T YOU SAY I DIDN'T MATTER AFTER GLENN'S DEATH!?" 

"Felix..." 

His vision blurred and warm- burning, even- tears began falling down Felix's cheeks. "I JUST WANT TO BE FOR MYSELF! WHAT DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND!? JUST LEAVE ME AND LET ME BE! I WON'T MOVE NO MATTER WHAT YOU SAY! OR WHO SAYS IT!" 

"... Felix..." 

"LEAVE!" 

"Hubert." The tone Edelgard used to start the conversation concerned Hubert. "How are you faring? You seem down." 

"You need not worry about it, Lady Edelgard. I am fine." 

Edelgard paused. "If you say so." 

Hubert didn't know why he was at Felix's door after all this time. They were not meant to be together, they were meant to be rivals. It hurt so to even think of Felix, yet Hubert didn't know why. Felix had supposedly been locked in his room all this time, his voice unheard unless someone was talking to him or forcing him out. During the two and a half weeks Felix had been in there, someone had tried either one only twice. For some reason, the thought of Felix acting like Bernadetta struck something within him. 

Hubert didn't knock. Hubert opened the door. Not many knew but Felix had a fear of locking his door, there was something about it that had made Hubert think it a joke the first time he heard it. 

"Felix?" Hubert called out as he opened the door a bit wider, stepping inside. His eyes travelled from object to object, searching. When his gaze reached the floor, Hubert almost stopped breathing. "Felix!?" 

Felix was lying unconscious on the floor, thinner than ever. Some broken plates laid around him, too. 

Hubert had done many things in his life, both good and bad, but he could not tell if he should have sat down next to Felix. 

(A soft cry began). 


	35. Dance, fiend (it'll be with friends)

Hubert had been sitting in the dining hall with Felix in his lap and Bernadetta in front of him when the door to the dining hall had burst open. Within seconds, Hubert had hidden under the table with Bernadetta and Felix, some food, too. Chatter was heard and far too many footsteps were heard as they made their way towards another table. Though Hubert couldn't see any faces, he could identify some voices. 

"So why did you wake me up in the middle of the night?" Caspar. 

"Hepadepdep, Caspar. Please! Hilda is trying her best already!" That was some blonde girl from the Blue Lions. 

"Hey, Ingrid, chill." Sylvain, he knew it not only because of rumours but also because of the copious amount of times one of his classmates had been flirted with. It was to note it was only male classmates. "Caspar is wondering and is actually showing it. I'm sure Hilda didn't take it poorly. did you take it poorly?" 

"Nope! I'm quite tired myself, but I cannot sleep." 

"Couldn't you have blagged someone?" That was a new voice. 

"Blag?" Caspar again. 

"To obtain information by impersonation." That was Claude, from the night with the goat cheese and wok pan. 

"Never heard it before." Sylvain. 

"Of course you haven't." It was the new voice. 

"Just tell us our nicknames. I have a nap to get back to." Linhardt, dammit. 

Most of the golden deer were there- mostly because everyone wanted to know, but also so they could hear the announcement Claude had to make. The posers were in their rooms because no one had the bravery to think of waking up the two members that slept with their weapons far too close to their hearts. Ignatz was first up on the table, fashionable high heels on. 

"I was in charge of the nicknames and I'm quite proud of myself." Ignatz pulled out a paper. "Ingrid, you're Rube. The reason for that is one of the most quoted verses between pegasus knights, it's of how Rube was an amazing general on top of his pegasus, Carla. Which brings us to Linhardt, you're Carla. Though for everyday use it's Linny. Caspar, you're Cassy. And Sylvain is Syl. Easy enough, right?" 

Ignatz got down before anyone could ask any questions and Claude got up in his stead. 

"Two things you need to know before I say what I need to say: first off, I'm half Almyran. Second of all, I'm royalty." Hilda looked offended. "The Almyrans plan on kidnapping me back to Almyra. I don't know how, but they'be managed to build up a giant army in Faerghus and the Empire. By giant, I mean for every one of us, they have fifty trained soldiers. So, we need to plan." 

Lysithea shot up. "You're telling me there are over twenty-eight thousand soldiers all marching towards Garreg mach!?" 

"Yes." 


	36. Sons and daughters

Jeritza had been tending to Judas- Seteth's and his Wyvern son- when he looked over to the side. Flayn was tending to Cyril's Wyvern son, Chernobog. They made eye contact. 

"Flayn?" 

"Jeritza?" 

"Flayn?" From past Flayn, Sylvain's head flew out. 

Flayn and Jeritza made eye contact with Sylvain. 

"Sylvain?" 

"Sylvain?" 

"Jeritza?" 

"Flayn?" 

"Jeritza?" 

"Sylvain?" 

"Jeritza?" 

"Jeritza?" 

"Flayn?" 

"Sylvain?" 

All three stopped and looked at each other before dashing off in their own directions. 


	37. Cat

"Claude put the cat down." Cathrine was pointing thunderbrand at Claude, who stood at the dock holding a cat. "We don't need it to explode." 

"I need to know what happens if I only put in part of the cat." 

"Put it down! Claude!" Gilbert was holding out a shield, Alois behind him. 

"But I need to." 

"Please put it down! We don't want an explosion!" Seteth was shouting. 

"Cat. Knowing. Need." 

Shamir bent over while shouting. "CLAUDE-" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be putting this story on hiatus for the foreseeable future. I'll get back to ot, eventually, just not now.


End file.
